Which Foot?

      When Brexit passed in the United Kingdom we here at Bloody Nib Manor hoisted our Union Jack and St. George's Cross flags up the flagpole on the south tower for about five minutes in celebration. Then, knowing that the actual implementation of the of the withdrawal will be left to the cosmopolites in the U.K. who voted against the referendum, we lowered the flags, folded them up, and went back to our gardening and lawn bowling with the sure knowledge that that we'll breathe our last with the United Kingdom under the heel of the E.U. The E.U. is somewhat like a tick that buries it's head into the flesh do draw blood for its body, which is on the surface. Pull off the blood bloated body and the is still trying to draw blood. And the result is an infection unless the head is dug out with sometime brutal results on the host. It hurts. And who wants to be hurt? The infection is worse, but doesn't hurt as much. The head of the E.U. tick is in the flesh of the United Kingdom and the Leavers would rather leave the head in rather than do the better thing and cut it out no matter the short term pain. The Leavers have their blood to suck and they will do it any way they can.
     Which, strangely, brings to the mind of your faithful correspondent, the current Presidential campaign between Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton.
      Mr. Trump is a vulgar, ill-educated (note: not un-educated, his education was fine, but he paid little attention to much), bellowing (well, as bellowing as a man with that nasal Manhattan voice can bellow), base bullying populist, and panderer of the Mussolini type. This writer is not calling Mr. Trump a facist. In fact, yours doubts that Mr. Trump really knows what a Fascist is or if he's read D'Annunzio. But he poses and preens like Benito and one finds one's self wondering when he will start wearing that funky cap with a trick golden eagle on the front. He fancies himself a street fighter, but an eight year old karate kid could double him over with a punch. To be short, he's pretty much a dope when it comes to Constitutional governance and he seems to think that the United States operates in the same way that his often failing corporations do. In other words, he's in charge and you are not.
     Mrs. Clinton, on the other hand, is a personally vulgar but publicly smooth, well-educated (though she never shows it), shrieking (if old Bill had had any manliness he would have folded up his tent and de-camped the first time he heard a tirade from this harpy, but he didn't), elite, and leftist who knows what is better for you than you do of the typical European Socialist/weak Communist type. Think Sweden with a much harder edge and uglier people. Unlike Mr. Trump, she preens and poses in other ways. The reader will never see her in khaki with a funny hat, but will always see her in a modified Star Trek pantsuit which has leanings toward the old Mao uniform of Communist China. She knows the Constitution and will take every loophole and groove to get what she wants. Mr. Obama ignores the Constitution. Mrs. Clinton works it like a wax nose. In other words, she's in charge and you aren't
     And both people, Constitutionally and and for the good of the nation, are awful candidates. They are both ticks of one sort or another. He from the populace through his casinos and hotels, she from the people through the government. They have both buried their heads into the flesh of the nation, and no matter which of them is elected, the head of the other will be buried into the national body infecting and corrupting. And the one who is elected will not only have its head stuck into the body politic, but their body will bloat and corrupt not only the nation,l but everything around it.
     Some "Solon's" -- and most professional opinion writers, political commentators and talking heads are idiots in real life because they've never done an honest day's work in their lives and really never have to worry about losing their jobs for being wrong -- have been doing "rah-rah" or "nah-nah" for one or the other candidates as if there is actually a good choice between the two. Twitter explodes with #NeverTrump or #NeverClinton and people ignore #Screw'emboth.
     The whole thing reminds your faithful correspondent of an old Polack/Russian/moron/Irish/etc. joke:
     Two (name your favorite out group here) are walking down a road. They come across a pile of brown stuff on the road. Socrates looks at the pile and says to his friend, "My dear Plato, whatever can that be?" Plato says, "It looks like dog turd."
      Socrates: "But do we know for sure?"
      Plato: "Let's find out by tests."
      Socrates: "Good idea."
      So both Socrates and Plato stick their fingers into the mass.
      Socrates: "It feels like a dog turd."
      Plato: "Surely it does."
      They both smell the stuff that is now on their fingers.
      Socrates: "It smells like a dog turd."
      Plato: "So it does, my dear Socrates."
      Then they taste the stuff on their fingers.
      Socrates: "It tastes awful. Like dog turd."
      Plato: "Wholly disgusting. It's a good thing we didn't step in it."
      Well, we've looked, smelled and tasted. The only question is will we step in it with our left foot or right foot? Or will be avoid it?